Manifesto
by Teh-AMAZING-One
Summary: Ayn Rand is read. Hilarity ensues. Anger ensues. Romance ensues? One-shot. Done for an Alphabet Meme request at my LiveJournal.


"You know, Kaiba, sometimes I really hate you," said Rebecca.

"Well, that's a relief. I'd hate to hear that you loved me or something." Kaiba casually flipped the page of _The Economist_ he was reading. He sat, one leg over the other, elbows resting on the top of the bench, and smirked. Rebecca huffed in frustration.

"Do you get some sort of sick pleasure torturing people? Oh wait, it's you we're talking about. Never mind." Rebecca planted her face in between the pages of the open book on her lap.

"For someone who is doing this voluntarily, you sure are complaining a lot. Maybe if you did a little more reading and a little less whining, you'd be done by now."

Rebecca, annoyed with Kaiba's apparent phobia of the outside, struck a deal with Kaiba. If he could spend his lunch hour doing something non work related, she would join him with a challenge of his choice. He would read something like _The Economist_, _Time_, or _Wired_. He assigned her Ayn Rand's body of work, starting with the biggest. Kaiba had a hard time with the concept of 'fair play.'

"Voluntary? Maybe in the sense that a hostage chooses not to leave the room. I may loathe Rand, but the idea of you have some sort of inaccurate feeling of superiority makes me nauseous."

"Now you're just exaggerating." Rebecca pulled her head up.

"I don't get why you like it so much," she whined. "I can't read two pages of _Atlas Shrugged _without wanting to beat the Russian out of that woman!"

"It's alright, Rebecca. Not knowing and not understanding something can be very frustrating. I'm just surprised you don't get upset more often." Someone who did not know Kaiba might think his tone was almost cheerful Rebecca knew better. If she called it off first, he could go back to working through his lunch hours while still saving face. This was a matter of pride.

"How long were you waiting to use that one? An hour? A day?" asked Rebecca, determined not to back down.

"Came up with it just then, actually. Pretty clever, eh?" He actually had the gall to put down his magazine and start eating. "You better keep reading. You're supposed to finish a chapter per issue. I finished my assignment after all."

He drank from a bottle of water, all the while ignoring Rebecca's pointed glares. Eventually she gave up and fixed her stare onto the print before, sometimes muttering about substituted extremism. Kaiba exhaled, and looked out at the courtyard around him. He appeared relaxed. He almost was relaxed. Until Rebecca let out a guffaw and snapped the book shut.

"I'm done with this! I knew there was a reason why I never read it! You Libertarians and your skewed logic," she put the book into her bag and settled the strap on her shoulder. "You know I once dated a guy named Mark? He read Rand while depressed. Started passing out fliers on a street corner like a crazy person."

"I liked Mark," he said, nodding.

"_You _would. You'd have been out there with him talking about 'the benefits of selfishness' and 'looking out for number one' if you didn't have to go to work."

"Seems a bit hypocritical to invest so much in another to street preach about putting yourself first. I'd just mock them in my head."

"You do that already. Ugh. I have samples to analyze," said Rebecca.

"Same time tomorrow?" he asked, gathering his things.

She stopped. "If you were anyone else, I'd think you were doing this on purpose just to spend lunch with a pretty girl."

"Ah, but I'm only me."

"That must suck for you." She again moved her shoulder and flipped her hair to the other side. Along with her other books, _Atlas Shrugged _would be rather heavy. It was her own fault, Kaiba decided, for utilizing those messenger bags that all the trendy twenty year olds were wearing.

He put his hand on her shoulder. If he pressed, he could have countered the weight of her bag. He trailed his hand down the back of her arm, past the elbow, and eventually cradled her hand.

"Of course, if I really were doing this all as some sort of elaborate ruse to spend time with you, I suppose it would be a good thing that you wouldn't suspect me of such. Undoubtedly, fruition would be, ah, _controversial _at best." He ran his thumb over the back of her hand, but did not let go.

"Kaiba, what are you..."

"If I were the sort of person that wanted to spend time with some I respected, someone I thought was brilliant, funny, and beautiful, but didn't really know how to tell them, I'd probably do something like this. It would make sense."

"Kaiba...?"

They were standing close before, but he leaned in. Thankfully she grew taller in the years he had known her. He did not have to bend down far to put his cheek against hers, his lips near her ears. Her face was hot.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find a woman like that?"

It took a second to register for her. But when it did, she shoved him hard.

"I can't believe you," she informed him. "You're an ass."

"You just figured that out now?"

The courtyard was filled with Kaiba's maniacal laughter as Rebecca stomped off.


End file.
